Fire escape



Sept 2Q, H5925.

1,555,355 J. A. CHARETTE A FIRE ESCAPE original Filed Jan. a, 92;

Patented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EIEE ESCAPE.

Application filed January 8, 1923, Serial No. 611,522. Renewed February27, 1925.

T all whom it may concer/b:

Be it known that I, JosErH ALPHONSE GHARETTE, a subject of the King ofGreat Britain, and resident of the city of St Boniface, in the Provinceof Manitoba, Canada,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire Escapes, ofwhich the following is the specification.

The invention relates to improvements in fire escapes, particularlyadapted for use onv houses and public buildings of various kinds, and anobject of the invention is to provide a fire escape which can beattached to the side of an existing building and which can be enteredfrom a window or door at each story and will carry the person entering,insafety to the ground.

A further object is to construct a fire escape wherein those escapingenter a series of shoots, passing between stories and slide in safetyand without any physical exertion to the ground.

A further object is to construct shoots with gates or doors normallyclosing the ends thereof to exclude the weather and with the entrancedoors to the shoots adapted to open automatically upon the approach of aperson and the outlet doors from the shoot adapted to open and remainopen upon being struck by theperson sliding through the shoot.

A further object of the invention is to construct the lowermost shootsuch that the free end thereof is normally elevated from the ground toclear traiiic and so that it will automatically drop to working positionupon the entrance door to that shoot being opened.

With the above more important objects in view the invention consistsessentially in the arrangement and construction of parts hereinaftermore particularly described and later pointed out in the appendedclaims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a building equipped with my fire escape.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view at 2-2 Fig. 1 and lookingdownwardly.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailed vertical sectional view at 3-3 Fig. 2 andlooking towaids the building.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detailed vertical sec-- tional view at 4 4 Fig. 1and looking towards the gates. n

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view at 5--5'l Fig. 3 and looking in thedirection of the applied arrow.

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view at 6-6 Fig. 5.

In the drawing like characters of reference indicate corresponding partsin the sevN eral figures.

The building 1 is provided with the customary windows 2, a window ateach floorl being utilized as an exit to my fire escape. A three storybuilding is shown, but obviously any size building could be equippedwith the fire escape shortly described b y simply duplicating parts topass from the upper story to the ground. In equippingT the building withmy fire escape I locate similar balconies or landings 3 and 4 atpre-selected windows, the landings being suitably supported from thewall of the building and being situated with respect to the windows sothat one can pass out through the windows directly onto the balconies.

The balconies are staggered and connected by shootswhich pass ininclined positions and alternate in opposite directions from theupper-floors to the ground. The balcony 3 is connected to the balcony 4by a metallic shoot 5 which is more or less oval in cross section and ofa size such that one can sit in it and slide down from the ton balconyto the lower one. The inclined position of the shoot is such that oneentering the same can slide down by gravity and ata reasonable speed.

The lower shoot 6 is hinged at 7 to the balcony 4 at a locationimmediately to the inner side of the shoot 5 and it is adapted to swingfrom the position shown in Fig. 1 to the ground. The end of the shootnext the balcony 4 is enclosed by a housing 8 which covers the end ofthe shoot in all positions thereof. This hinged shoot is normallysuspended clear of traffic by a counter balance which embodies a rope 9passing over a pulley 1() and provided with a counter weight 11, thepulley being suspended by a suitable bracket 12 Afrom the side4 of thebuilding. The lower end of the shoot is normally closed by a hinged gate13, the gate being held closed by a coiled spring 14C extending betweena vertical arm 15 secured to the gate and a vertical bar 16 secured tothe side of the balcony. The bar 16 is positioned with respect to thegate such' that when the gate is closed the spring is in tension andacting to hold the gate closed and so that when the gat-e is struck openfrom within, the spring will operate to pull the gate open and retain itopen backed against the side of the balconyf According to thisarrangement one sliding` through the shoot will strike the door andcause it to open where it will remain.

The upper end of the shoot 6 is normally closed by a hinged door 17, thedoor being provided with a iXed latch 18 which is normally locked closedby a catch 19 located on the upper end of a locking bar 20, which passesdownwardly and is pivotally attached at 21 to a rocker arm, 22 pivotallymounted on the underside of the landing t.

In a location directly above the landing 4 I locate a hingedhorizontally lying vpressure plate 23 which is adapted to be stepped onand depressed by the weight oi' a person approaching the door 17. Thisplate is elongated in the direction of the door 17 so as to be disposedin the path of persons passing to the door from the chute 5 as well asfrom the window beneath which the plate is positioned. A short arm 24extends downwardly from this plate and through the landing and ispivotally attached to one end of the rocker arm 22 and the arrangementis such that vthe depression of the plate 23 will raise the bar 2O andrelease the catch from the latch. As soon as this occurs 'the door 17 isopened towards the wall by the action of a coiled spring 25 attachedthereof. The pressure plate is also utilized to unlock the pivoted shoot6. This shoot is normally locked in the elevated position by a hook`shaped spring catch 26 permanently secured to the housing 8 anden'ga'geable with va lug 27 secured to the shoot. An operating bar 28 ispivotally attached to the catch 26 and lto the rocker arm 22, thearrangement 'being such that the `depression of the pressure plateraises the catch 26 and releases the shoot '6 to swing under the actionof gravity, it bein-g here understood that the counter weight 11 permitsthe shoot to slowly drop, under the action of gravity, tothe ground.

The lower end of the shoot 6 is fitted with a hinged door 29 which isheld inthe opened and 'closed `position by a spring mounted the same asthat v141 associated with the .door

13 so .that the said door 29 opens when struck by one sliding throughthe shoot and remains open.

The underside of the shoot 6 is titted with a shoe 3() adapted tocontact with the ground when the said shoot swings downwardly.

The upper end of the shoot 5 is fitted with a hinged gate 31 which isnormally locked closed by a catch and latch identical to that utilizedin connection with the gate 17, the catch being controlled by a rockerbar and pressure plate of the same nature as hereinbeiore described. Theshoot 6 is supported in the down position by hangers secured to thewall.

In order to better understand the tire escape I will now describe themanner in which it operates, assuming all doorsclosed and the shoot 6locked in the up position.

A person leaving the burning building by any of the windows at thelandings will step on the pressure plate at the landing which willautomatically act to open the door to the down going shoot. It he entersthe landing from the first story the depression of the plate will alsoact to release the shoot 6 to drop. It one, however, escapes from anupper story window and enters the down going shoot he will slide againstthe door at the lower end oi that shoot and open it, then he will walkon the pressure plate which will open the entrance door to the. nextdow-n going shoot. This action will continue, where the appliance is puton a high building, until the last shoot is reached, at which point thevdepression oi' the plate releases the lowermost shoot todrop to theground so that the person is carried in safety from the burningbuilding.

l/Vhilst I have entered into a detailed description of the variouscontrolling parts it will be readily understood that they lcan bemodified without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forthin the accompanying claims. V

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a ytire escape `for a multiple story building, the combinationwith 4an inclined shoot extending between stories and -a Vlandinglocated at each end of the shoot, vof a spring lpressed gate normallyclosing the lower end of the shoot 'and bei-ng adapted to be opened bybeing struck by a person lsliding through 'the shoot, a hinged gatelocated at the upper end of the shoot, a. spring adapted to open thelatter gate, mean-s normally locking the latter gate vclosed adepressible plate loca/ted on the platform at the approach :to thelatter gate fand an operating connection between the A-plate .and thegate locking means adapted in the depression of the plate to release thelocking means and free 4'the :gate to open.

2. In a lire escape tor a building, the combination with a landing, lashoot having Cil one end pivotally connected to the landing and theother end counter balanced and normally elevated, of a normally closedand locked gate at theI landing end of the shoot, a spring adapted toopen the gate upon the locking means being released, releasable meansnormally locking the shoot in the elevated position, a depressible platemounted on the landing at the approach to the shoot and means actuatedby the depressionof 10 the plate for unlocking the gate andsimultaneously releasing the shoot locking means.

Signed at Winnipeg, this 12th day of December, 1922.

JOSEPH ALPHONSE GHAR-ETTE.

